"The agreement reached between the U.S. and the DPRK [North Korea's official name] is part of the process of establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula, and will influence the course of the South Korean-U.S. summit, six-party talks and the inter-Korean summit," the statement said.
On Sunday, after bilateral talks in Geneva September 1-2, U.S. and North Korean representatives announced North Korea was ready to freeze its nuclear program by year-end.
During the two-day talks in Geneva, the U.S.-North Korean working group discussed measures to normalize bilateral relations, including removing the DPRK from the U.S. black list of terrorism sponsors.
The official KCNA news agency quoted the North Korean Foreign Ministry's statement as saying: "In return for this [readiness to freeze the nuclear program], the U.S. decided to take such political and economic measures for compensation as delisting the DPRK as a terrorism sponsor and lifting all sanctions that have been applied according to the Trading with the Enemy Act."
Five working groups operate as part of the six-nation talks on the North's denuclearization. International efforts seeking a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula intensified after the North conducted nuclear tests last October.
In February, they produced a breakthrough when Pyongyang agreed to gradually close its nuclear facilities in exchange for economic aid and other concessions.
